A Social Analysis on Conceptual Art Movement in Iran

Document Type : Point of View

Author

Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts and Architecture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

This research has been done with the aim of knowing more about the necessities of conceptual art experience in Iran. To achieve this goal, first its theoretical foundations and the motivations for the emergence of conceptual art trends in western countries have been examined. Also, the existing cultural and artistic contexts for accepting this tendency in contemporary Iranian society were explored. 
 In recent years, due to special political, cultural and social conditions, many artistic tendencies and movements in the country are being formed and developed. Such movements, known as conceptual art, have been designed by cultural and artistic policymakers. Although the history of conceptual art in Iran dates back to the Pre-Islamic Revolution, it has grown significantly in recent decades and has been supported by the government.
 Conceptual art has been formed and matured according to cultural and artistic necessities in the West. In fact, the purpose of this art is the direct transfer of a concept or idea, in which the artist considers the material means of this transfer to be insignificant, extinct, and devoid of aesthetics. In fact, it was formed according to the cultural and artistic needs of western societies and to get rid of the deadlocks created in modernism.
The West has always been at the forefront of presenting schools and art styles and has always tempted artists from other countries, including Iran, to try these experiences. Other curiosity and insistence on using methods and elements that are contrary to our culture, will act as a barrier to the activity and creativity of the artist. Conceptual art attracted the attention of Iranian artists with a delay of several decades, and artists tried to create works with conceptual art paradigms. Now these questions   are raised: What is the need for experience and development of conceptual art in Iranian society? To what extent is the current situation in Iran ready to accept such artistic tendencies?
The movement of conceptual art in Iran has also been widely criticized despite governmental and non-governmental organizations support. These criticisms are not only in terms of form, but also in terms of content. Exotic aspects of conceptual art, which often reach the limits of imitation, have always been criticized as not having the main and intrinsic features of the schools in question, and because they originate from different social, cultural and artistic origins and are the result of needs of western society; such experiences in Iran, with a geography with different historical coordinates, is merely an experience of contemporary western art. In fact, conceptual art has come to fill the void left by rituals and ceremonies in western societies and to heal the old wounds of confused, depressed and tired of life of the humans.
Modernism appeared in western art with the slogan "art for art's sake" and the negation of concept and content. Modernism in the field of visual arts, in contrast to traditional western art, was to achieve a pure form. Western artists have been searching and experimenting for centuries to realize the "idea of ​​modernity."
In today's Iranian society, despite the effects of modernism, we do not agree with the category of spiritual vacuum like the west and national religions and rituals are practically experienced in various forms at the society. Ethnic and local, which are the result of resistance to global cultures, are gaining more and more power, and global culture is even predicted to be a very diverse and wide range of small local and ethnic cultures.  Therefore, religion, rituals, local customs and national identity in general require more attention. The need for self-knowledge and the revival of national identity have long been important to Iranians. This cognition is derived from the definition of "self" in the shadow of looking at the "other." From ancient rituals such as: Nowruz celebration with its various ceremonies, to religious rituals and ceremonies show the dynamism of rich Iranian culture.
In the absence of contexts and texts that can understand and recognize conceptual art and such artistic movements and activities, it is not possible to define a specific and independent definition for such a category, which is the originality and perfection of a western matter and the offspring of liberal democracy and living conditions in there. We should try to provide the background for such a thing in society; it should be examined that what this kind of art actually is? Is it compatible with the cultural, social and economic conditions of the country? Not to seek an independent and local definition and to inject elements of traditional and indigenous art into it. In fact, this type of art is a product of foreign culture and is foreign to our cultural and artistic identity. Most of the conceptual works of art in Iran do not have the creativity and innovation that are the tools of modern art, and the ideas are repetitions and imitations of western works. Conceptual art in the West claims to take art out of museums and place it among the masses, and it has succeeded in doing so; conversely, in Iran, the presentation of conceptual art is more in museums and galleries and for specific audiences, which is in contradiction with the philosophy of conceptual art.
The west has passed through these historical stages with the mental and practical experience of modernity and modernism and has reached this new stage according to the requirements of its time. Given the presence of countless national and religious ceremonies and rituals that naturally exist in society, the experience of conceptual art in Iran, in an extreme form - which today does not matter much even in its origin, the West - seems futile.  Of course, this does not mean not using new arts and technical and technological facilities properly in the contemporary art of the country.
This art has emerged in the west due to the cultural and artistic necessities resulting from the deadlocks resulting from the failed experience of modernism; and in order to fill the spiritual void, the stage emerged. Therefore, its experience in Iran is not necessary due to its rich cultural and artistic background and completely different from the west. In fact, when Iranian society is full of spirituality through traditions, ceremonies and religious and national rituals interactively and with the presence of a large audience; experiences of the conceptual arts of other nations, even in imitation, are not necessary. Now in the current economic climate, the need to establish museums and galleries across the country and to purchase works of art and to provide extensive financial support to artists in cultural planning must be prioritized. Therefore, basically, economically, there are no necessary economic bases and infrastructures in the country to experience it.
The results show that due to the lack of sufficient experience of modern art in Iran and the lack of sufficient cultural and economic infrastructure, as well as the existence of indigenous cultural and artistic needs different from western societies, it is not necessary to deal with this art in the current situation of the country. This research has been done using descriptive and analytical methods and as necessary in parts of the historical method.

Keywords

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History

  • Receive Date: 25 May 2021
  • Revise Date: 24 October 2021
  • Accept Date: 20 December 2021

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